Not every book or author is suited for The Oprah Show, Larry King, or other celebrity-hosted talk shows. However, you can bet that anytime we have an author who fits a particular venue, we make every effort to get them on that show. This is exactly how we showcased our book on The Oprah Show. Oprah liked the theme so much that she named her show for that day after our book title.

You may be the next author that NBC, PBS, or CBS wants to interview, or maybe an evening radio talk show would provide the best audience to receive your message. It could be your local cable TV station, a Public Broadcasting radio program, The 700 Club, the Art Bell show—Coast2CoastAM, or a small-town radio station or local newspaper. There are reviewers at the New York Times and there are reviewers at Sunset Magazine, Hot Rod Magazine, Photographic, Scientific American, medical journals, dog and cat magazines, food catalogs, music review publications, and every other imaginable kind of publication. The variety is mind-boggling. The secret is to know which showcases are best to present YOUR message. You do not put a scientist who just wrote about the molecular structure of salt on Larry King. Nor do you put Brad Pitt in an M.I.T. journal. It is all about placing an author on the right path that coincides with his or her message.

It is just as admirable for an author to write about building patio furniture as it is for him to write about the latest discoveries in DNA, or a great novel. After all, we are all individuals with our own message to share. Bigger is not necessarily better. If you are on a major TV or radio network show, it is true that many millions of viewers might be tuned in and listening to your message. Likewise, many of the biggest-selling books in history were grassroots movements in which the authors spoke to their audience town by town, one newspaper article after another. Chicken Soup for the Soul is just such a success story.

The Author’s Workshop intensely focuses on the author and her needs. What works for one author does not necessarily work for another. Many authors write books that are more appropriate for a lecture series, radio, a business campaign, the library reference section, or endless other niche markets. It simply would not work for them to be on Larry King, The Oprah Show, or The Tonight Show. Of course, most authors dream of being on major network shows, but the Author’s Workshop is more focused on and dedicated to shining the light in the direction that will help the author the most. It is a huge pitfall for authors to head in the wrong direction, both in time lost and unnecessary money spent. An author can be a great writer, but he is almost never educated in the publishing, marketing, and public relations world. Petersen states, “Every week a potential new client calls me and generally states something like, ‘I thought my book was difficult to write. I had no idea of how many things there are to do now that it is written, and so many things I do not understand about selling my book. What do I do?’”

Life is short, and there is simply no time to waste on dead-end roads, false promises, or unrealistic miscalculations.
You may be spending your future years signing books and rubbing elbows with other celebrities, or reading to children at the local hospital. You may be on a world tour, or maybe going from town to town presenting your views and your book to like-minded readers. It is a fact that many of the authors who have been on major network TV became overnight successes. However, not everyone gets on network TV, and not everyone should, as different shows and publications are suited for different kinds of books and authors.

Every author needs a tailor-made, unique selling proposition (USP), a clear and exciting message, and a carefully thought-out plan. No two authors are alike. The plan and the process cannot be obtained from any book. Career development is only achieved through the guiding hands of a highly skilled and experienced professional in the particular field of interest to the student. The Author’s Workshop is exactly that entity for the author.

Maybe the appropriate avenue for success is an interview with a reporter from Vanity Fair or People Magazine, or maybe the Harvard Review would be the best choice. How about The New Yorker, Golf Digest, Time Magazine, or one of the hundreds of other internationally known publications? However, for many authors, being interviewed in small-town newspapers best suits the way they desire to deliver their message.

For example, if you have the best book on how to build patio furniture, we would contact many publications like Sunset Magazine. On the other hand, if you have a great children’s novel, Disney Studios might be the best place to shop your book or movie deal. Just look at the success story of Harry Potter. Maybe you have a self-help book on a diet for cancer patients. We worked with Roche Pharmaceutical and the women’s group, Cancer and Careers, for a major book release to help women with cancer find jobs.

Publishing is an exact science, not a chancy, hit-and-miss, loosely thought-out scheme. Most authors who can write a great book do not understand the complex processes and workings of the public relations, marketing, and distribution side of the book publishing industry. The Author’s Workshop does. We know exactly what we are doing, and every direction to take on behalf of our client’s career development and success.

With 30 years of publishing experience, working with celebrities, publishers, and major corporations as well as new authors and successful authors with multiple book titles, Petersen understands the logistics and the best approaches to take for each kind of book for each unique author. There is no out-of-the-box, cookie-cutter formula. The methods are based on years of experience and working closely with the author, the media, and the publishing industry.

Please see what American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Disney Studios had to say about our company. GQ interviewed one of our authors about his book on his relationship with his family, and PBS did a documentary about his life. Obviously, if you have written a book about sports, one of the many perfect publications for you would be Sports Illustrated. What if your book is science fiction or about science? Maybe a feature story about you in Popular Science would be just the ticket.

Each book and each author requires an in-depth study by The Author’s Workshop and our marketing, publicity, and public relations team to determine the most powerful marketing approaches for each particular project. Many books do well if they are spotlighted on television, radio, and in major publications. Other books require a much different marketing approach, such as primary contacts through catalogs, the library system, colleges, universities, and other academic arenas. Many of our authors are successful seminar speakers and lecturers.

Regardless of what kind of book you have written, our experienced team of publishing industry professionals will zero in on the many different marketing choices available. We will tailor a well-thought-out marketing plan that will be just right for your book and your career as an author.

Each book and each author is unique and requires a marketing strategy specifically tailored to its particular audience. This may include television, radio, or interviews with major publications, or a combination of several of the hundreds of possible marketing scenarios. Each author can be confident that we will work as a team to select as many viable marketing, public relations, and promotional scenarios as are required by our marketing plan.